Terrapin Invitational Tournament XXII packet by vcu

1. The narrator of this novel visits a giant phallic tombstone inscribed with the word “mother,” and discusses the search for scientific truth with the secretary Miss Faust. Minor characters in this novel include Ambassador Hinton, who gives a speech commemorating the “Hundred Martyrs of Democracy,” and Dr. van Koenigswald, a former physician atoning for his service at Auschwitz by working for Philip Castle. A picture of Mona Aamons Monanzo inspires the protagonist to fly to the island of San Lorenzo, where he discovers the religion of Bokononism. That narrator begins this novel intending to write a book about Felix Hoenikker, the father of the atomic bomb, called The Day the World Ended. FTP, name this novel by Kurt Vonnegut that ends with the world’s water turned into ice-nine, which is named for a game played with string.

ANSWER: Cat’s Cradle

2. Gustavus Koerner wrote a book in German about his experiences serving in this post. Civil War general Daniel Sickles and Caleb Cushing served in this post while dealing with a situation involving a blockade-runner captured by the Tornado, the Virginius affair. Cushing also helped to extradite Boss Tweed, and Stewart Woodford's country’s actions were seen as representative of his people's desire to "transform themselves from Jewish bankers and gold miners into Vandal Conquerors." One of the most notable holders of this post later commiserated with Dr. William Gwin to settle Americans in Sonora and in this capacity crippled the Marquis de Turgot for life in a duel. Later, that man tried to complete what Romulus Saunders had failed to do, and with John Y. Mason and James Buchanan, produced the Ostend Manifesto. FTP, name this diplomatic position famously held by James Russell Lowell, Pierre Soule, and Washington Irving, men who spent a lot of time in Madrid.

ANSWER: minister to Spain (also accept ambassador to Spain)

3. The one stated under von Neumann definition of the ordinals is expressed as an order type associated with each well-ordering, and is named for Burali-Forti. A reparametrization of conditional probability density functions to show the lack of invariance under transformations lies behind the one named for Borel and Kolmogorov. The congruence of measures for subsets and unions of subsets is one of these stated by Hausdorff, while the another one of these assumes that a set of infinities exists, and hence must be infinite, as stated by Cantor. A ball dissected into six pieces and reassembled to form two balls identical to the original is a statement of this type named for Banach and Tarski. FTP a set containing sets which are not members of themselves leads to one of these named for Russell, a statement of mathematical contradiction.

ANSWER: paradoxes

4. The Merseberg Incantations tell the story of his ride into a forest where his horse sprains its leg, only to be magically healed by Wodan. In one story, his wife sends a ring to his mother-in-law Fulla, while his son is renowned for settling disputes. At a ceremony in his honor, the dwarf Litr is randomly burned to death, and the aid of the giantess Hyrokkin is enlisted. Due to the machinations of Thokk, he is forced to remain in the realm of Hel, but manages to send Draupnir back to his father Odin. Joined by his wife Nanna on his funeral pyre, FTP name this most loved of all the gods who was killed by his blind brother Hodr by a spear of mistletoe at the behest of Loki.

ANSWER: Balder

5. Snoop Dogg remixed one of this artist's most ubiquitous singles as a promotion for this artist's appearance in Signs. His first solo album contained songs like Let's Take a Ride and Never Again, the latter of which was not a comment on the Holocaust but instead about a girl who "lied straight to my face". His second album, where he can be seen in a suit stomping on a disco ball has spawned an unbelievable six singles, the latest of which sometimes features Beyonce on duet and is called Until the End of Time. When he cameoed on the Simpsons, he proclaimed that "I can't believe I'm meeting Milhouse!" in reference to that character being part of the Party Posse. FTP, identify this artist best known for being on the giving end of a Super Bowl 38 wardrobe malfunction and for bringing sexy back, probably through a dick in a box.

ANSWER: Justin Randall Timberlake

6. According to Arthur Kinney, this poem’s line about “the dreadful martyrdom” refers to The Massacre of the Innocents. This poem describes an “untidy spot” where “the torturer’s horse / Scratches its innocent behind against a tree” and argues that for every “miraculous birth, there always must be / Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating / on a pond at the edge of a wood.” Its last lines describe an “expensive delicate ship” that “had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on” despite seeing “a boy falling out of the sky.” Beginning “About suffering they were never wrong / The Old Masters,” and inspired by Breughel’s Landscape With the Fall of Icarus, FTP, identify this poem by W. H. Auden named for a museum in Brussels.

ANSWER: “Musée des Beaux Arts”

7. The Montonen-Olive duality corresponds to an N=4 Yang-Mills theory for the symmetry of Maxwell's equations for these by replacing the gauge coupling constant with its reciprocal. The Nambu-Goto action and the Polyakov action lead to equations of motion for them, the latter used for quantization. Different theories of them involve group symmetries such as E8 by E8 or SO(32), and some allow open versions corresponding to the photon, or closed versions corresponding to the graviton. It was first introduced to correct for a 1919 theory that applied an extra dimension to unify electromagnetism and gravity, a theory named after Kaluza and Klein. Early theories introduced the tachyon, while more modern theories have eliminated that particle and call for a total of 10 spatial dimensions. Often mathematically referred to as 1-branes, FTP identify these fundamental one-dimensional structures that are theorized to compose all matter.

ANSWER: strings

8. This artist depicted a winged woman sitting with her foot on a sphere in his sculpture Truth. He sculpted a man with unkempt wavy hair shrieking in agony, Damned Soul, and used an oval design for the church of Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale. Another of his works is located in the Piazza Navona and consists of figures personifying the Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio della Plata, while one of his sculptures shows a mythological figure turning into a laurel tree. This sculptor of the Fountain of the Four Rivers and Apollo and Daphne designed the piazza and colonnades of St. Peter’s, and depicted a saint about to be pierced by an angel’s spear in a sculpture created for the Cornaro Chapel. FTP, name this Baroque Italian sculptor of Ecstasy of St. Theresa.

ANSWER: Gianlorenzo Bernini

9. Theodora Komnenos, a Trapezuntine princess, was married to a leader of a group described with this adjective, Uzun Hasan, who led an unsuccessful campaign against Karaman and the Ottomans in 1473. The Sassanid Emperor Bahram the Wild Ass once organized a hunting party in Azerbaijan after hearing of the invasion of another group described by this adjective. The Emperor Justin formed an alliance with Lazica and a group described by this adjective, and sent Belisarius against Kavadh I, who effectively destroyed that group. Another group described by this adjective was originally led by Jochi, and the nephew of Urus Khan, Tokhtamysh, reunited it with its eastern counterpart, the Blue Horde. An army of this name was led by such figures as Wrangel, Kolchak, and Denikin, eventually losing to the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. FTP, give this adjective, used to describe a group of Huns, Sheep, Hordes, and Guelphs, and the predominant skin color of major league baseball players in the early twentieth century.

ANSWER: white (accept ak before Sassanid; prompt on it thereafter, as well as hephthalite)

10. Sofonisba Anguissola painted one of these with a cryptogram inside a circle. Egon Schiele painted one “with Chinese lanterns,” while Leon Spilliaert depicted several using black crayon. Jean Fouquet painted one of the first examples in 1450; other notable examples of them include ones “between clock and bed” and “with [a] skeletal arm” painted by Edvard Munch and one “with seven fingers” painted by Marc Chagall. Parmigianino painted one of these “in a convex mirror,” and in one of these by Albrecht Durer, the subject wears a fur coat and looks like Jesus. FTP, name these paintings, examples of which include a depiction of a subject with a bandaged ear by Van Gogh.

ANSWER: self-portraits

11. She tells one character she would like to drink from his skull and eat his roasted heart when he suggests she is faint at the sight of blood. She whipped her dog Diana for disobedience, and claimed to have "run away" with her memories. Before the events of the play she calls off her engagement after an event involving her fiancé and a riding crop, leading her to flirt with a servant. That character, her father’s valet, tries to convince her that they must run away and start a hotel in Switzerland after she returns from a barn dance and seduces him. Eventually, Jean gives her a razor and tells her to kill herself. FTP name this titular protagonist of an August Strindberg play.

ANSWER: Froken Julie or Miss Julie

12. One of this artist’s final works consists of a massive wooden door with two peepholes showing a naked woman sprawling on a bed of twigs. This artist’s early paintings include Portrait of Dr. Dumouchel and Young Man and Girl in Spring, and he painted shadows of his earlier works on his 1917 canvas Tu m’. His sculptures include a ball of twine enclosing a mysterious object, a typewriter cover with nothing underneath it, and a bicycle wheel fastened to a stool. Another of his works features a chocolate grinder powered by a waterwheel and nine malic moulds, and partially shattered after its first public exhibition. FTP, name this French artist of The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even, who also created readymades like Fountain and painted Nude Descending a Staircase.

ANSWER: Marcel Duchamp

13. This thinker posited that people arrange ideas using synthetic heaps and complexes before developing concepts. This psychologist collaborated with Alexander Luria and Alexei Leontiev to produce a body of research known as his eponymous approach. He criticized Piaget’s theory that egocentric speech fades with time, and instead argued that it forms the basis for adult thinking, in his major work, Thought and Language. He also theorized that children have a range of potential for learning, which is shaped by their environment. A pioneer of social constructivism, FTP, name this Russian developmental psychologist who formulated the Zone of Proximal Development.

ANSWER: Lev Semenovich Vygotsky

14. One type of this uses potassium permanganate to stain molecules with functional groups sensitive to oxidation, while another type relies on a partition based on a range of distribution coefficients. Described in a classic text by Braithwaite and Smith, they include reversed-phase and countercurrent varieties, and the study of them usually begin with rate theory and plate theory. A Long wave UV lamp is used in the type that utilizes a silica gel stationary phase, while a so-called high performance type uses higher pressure and a long column. First demonstrated by Mikhail Tsvet to German botanists, they include gel filtration, ion exchange, as well as liquid and gas mobile phase varieties. FTP name this class of general analytical methods used for separating the components of a mixture, exemplified by paper and thin-layer versions.

ANSWER: chromatography

15. A group of their soldiers known as Epiha's Vanguard helped them achieve victory at a battle site that, despite what its common name suggests, took place on Onukukaitara Hill. One of their leaders, Kawiti, was known for his ingenious designs of defense fortifications, especially to protect his personal rangatiratanga, and these people believed that their ancestors arrived in their current home mainly thanks to a great fleet coming from Hawaiki. A Christian subsection of them led by Te Ua and known as the Hauhau fought in the "white man's anger" campaign of the late 1860s, and many of their pas were besieged during conflicts such as the Waikato War. Te Wherowhero, also known as Potatu I, was made monarch as part of the King Movement of these people to resist colonization, culminating in their namesake wars against the British. Signers of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, FTP, name these people who were the original settlers of New Zealand.

ANSWER: Māori

16. Antonio Negri’s book The Savage Anomaly describes the power of this thinker’s “metaphysics and politics.” This philosopher died before he could complete his Treatise on the Emandation of the Intellect, and his major work built on his essays Short Treatise and On the Improvement of the Understanding. Another of his works argues that the state should have authority over religious members of the clergy. This philosopher distinguished between “Nature naturing” and “Nature natured,” and argued that God is nature in a work composed of essays “in geometrical order.” FTP, identify this philosopher, the author of Tractatus Theologico-Politicus and Ethics.

ANSWER: Baruch Spinoza

17. All the musical themes in this work are introduced in the first 14 measures, which begins in B flat, modulates downward, and returns to B flat abruptly. The inspiration for two paintings by Arthur Dove, it was premiered in a concert that also featured compositions by Zez Confrey and Four Serenades by Victor Herbert, taking place in Aeolian Hall. The use of rubato throughout this work is especially prominent in the so-called "train theme," and it was notably played in the introduction to Woody Allen's Manhattan. This work was orchestrated by the composer of the Grand Canyon Suite, and its success caused Walter Damrosch to commission its composer’s Concerto in F. Inspired by the rhythmic noises of a train ride to Boston, its signature opening was tailored for Russ Gorman, a member of Paul Whiteman’s band. Beginning with a wailing clarinet glissando and scored for jazz band and piano, FTP, identify this 1924 composition originally titled American Rhapsody, a work by George Gershwin named for a certain color.

ANSWER: Rhapsody in Blue

18. A father cuts his son’s wife out of a photograph, but feels remorse when he learns of his grandchildren, in this author’s short story “Marriage is a Private Affair.” Another of this author’s short stories is set in a town run by the tyrant Kitikpa, and focuses on Julius, a clerk who accidentally steps on a sacrificial egg. This author of the children’s book How the Leopard Got Its Spots also wrote novels about Ikem Osodi, who is sentenced to death by Sam, the dictator of Kangan, and Obi, who is imprisoned for bribery after returning from England to the village of Umuofia. The author of Anthills of the Savannah and No Longer at Ease, FTP, name this Nigerian novelist who wrote about Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart.

19. The war against this polity was encouraged by the murder of Juan Diaz and the peace of Crépy doomed this polity, which had helped its future enemy seize St. Dizier. The activities of Blaurer, who abolished images in his city despite the opposition of Schnepf and Brenz, threatened for a time to divide this polity. The treaty of Grosswardein was signed one year before the accession of William, Duke of Cleves-Julich-Berg to power in Dutch Gelderland, who hoped to unite with this polity. A letter to Osiander from Thomas Cranmer reveals the danger encountered when one of this polity's leaders was exposed as an adulterer, and that leader was castigated by John Frederick, among others. At the Diet of Ratisbon, Hans of Kustrin defected, and Schärtlin led the forces of Ulm and Augsburg for this polity, along with Philip of Hesse. Also counting among its members Ulrich of Wurttemberg and defeated at the Battle of Muhlberg in 1547, FTP, name this Protestant league of cities which fought against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

ANSWER: Schmalkaldic League (also accept Schmalkaldischer Bund)

20. Akt mediated release of NF-kappa-B leads to its inhibition, which begins with SHC adaptor activation of PI-3 kinase. It can lead to formation of the Apaf-1 complex and activation of SMAC proteins, and is mediated by Bim and JNKs (junks). It is effected by the release of inhibition on Bcl-2, which allows Bax to move to the mitochondria, releasing cytochrome C, which induces caspase activity. P75 and p53 are initiators of this process, which is useful for getting rid of diseased cells so that the affliction does not spread to nearby cells. An alternative to necrosis, FTP identify this process of programmed cell death.

ANSWER: apoptosis

21. The conflict arose due to a dispute over relative position on the Hill Parnassus. One side sent ambassadors with a demand of removal to Summity or the threat of the use of Mattocks. The assaulting force numbered Fifty thousand and consisted of light Horse, heavy-armed Foot, and Mercenaries which were commanded by Tasso, Cowly, and Cambden respectively. Before the decisive engagement, Fame alerted Jove who called an emergency Senate meeting where Momus and Pallas argued for their respective sides. During the hostilities, an errant arrow fired by Aristotle missed its intended mark of Bacon but instead wounds Des-Cartes. Bentley leads the final assault in FTP, what conflict between the Ancients and the Moderns in St. James’s Library which is recounted in a satire by Jonathan Swift.

ANSWER: The Battle of the Books [A Full and True Account of the Battel Fought last FRIDAY, Between the Ancient and the Modern Books in St. James’s Library]

1. It was divided into a Hill Complex, Great Enclosure and Valley Ruins. FTPE:

[10] Name this site that was a pretty happening city in the sub-Saharan African Iron Age. It was the capital of a namesake empire that also lends its name to a modern day African country.
ANSWER: Great Zimbabwe[10] Great Zimbabwe was built by the Gokomere, ancestors of these people, still one of the largest populations in Zimbabwe. Many worship the creator god Mwari, and they speak a dialect of Bantu where all verbs end in "a" and no syllables end in consonants.
ANSWER: Mashona[10] These people claim that they were the ones who built the city of Great Zimbabwe. However, these "African Jews" who worship the monotheistic god Nwali are more obsessed with proving that their ancestry traces back to Yemen before the time of Christ.
ANSWER: Lemba

2. It refers to a potential difference between opposite sides of a current flowing through an electrical conductor and is caused by a magnetic field perpendicular to the flow, FTPE:

[10] Name this phenomenon discovered in 1879 by its eponymous American discoverer.
ANSWER: Hall Effect (do not except Quantum Hall Effect)
[10] Similar to the Hall Effect but using a disc-shaped conductor instead of a rectangular one, this effect with an Italian discoverer produces a circular current.
ANSWER: Corbino Effect[10] Another similar effect involves inducing another electric field by introducing to the conductor a temperature gradient. It is named after the physicist who also give his name to the Third Law of Thermodynamics.
ANSWER: Nernst Effect

3. Answer the following about a sociological theory, FTPE.

[10] Named by Herbert Blumer, this theory views society as a series of micro-level relationships between individuals who constantly adjust their behavior in response to others and their subjective situation.

ANSWER: symbolic interactionism

[10] This seminal work of symbolic interactionism by Erving Goffman argues that individuals present socially constructed “fronts” through a process of impression management, and compares social interaction to dramaturgy.

ANSWER: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

[10] Symbolic interactionism was also inspired by this American thinker’s assertion that “Me” and “I” are distinct components of the self in his classic work Mind, Self, and Society.

ANSWER: George Herbert Mead

4. Answer the following about some works of literature and their author FTPE:

[10] In this short story, George Stransom dies after refusing to place a candle for Acton Hague on the title object.

[10] While vacationing in Vevey, Winterbourne meets this novella’s title character, who dies of Roman fever after her social circle disapproves of her relationship with Mr. Giovanelli.

ANSWER: “Daisy Miller”

[10] This American author wrote “The Altar of the Dead” and “Daisy Miller”, as well as novels like The Ambassadors and Portrait of a Lady.

ANSWER: Henry James

5. After finishing ten of them, two labors of Heracles were declared invalid because of the aid he received. FTPE:

[10] This man who forced Heracles into performing two more labors was also the king who took Heracles’ position as king of Greece by being born earlier.

ANSWER: Eurystheus

[10] Eurystheus claimed that the killing of this multi-headed monster who kept growing his head back didn’t count because Heracles had enlisted the aid of his cousin Iolaus.

ANSWER: Lyrnaean Hydra

[10] On Heracles' first replacement labor, aka the one where he had to get the Apples of the Hesperides, he first had to deal with this king of Egypt who attempted to sacrifice him to avoid future famines. But those shackles couldn't restrain Heracles and he broke free and killed the king.
ANSWER: Busiris

6. Identify these Baroque painters FTPE:

[10] This Flemish painter created twenty-four canvases about Marie de Medici, as well as a painting of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. He also depicted fleshy nudes in paintings like The Judgment of Paris and The Garden of Love.

ANSWER: Peter Paul Rubens

[10] Nicknamed Baciccio, this Italian painter of The Death of Adonis is best known for the fresco he painted on the ceiling of the Church of Il Gesù, Triumph of the Holy Name of Jesus.

ANSWER: Giovanni Battista Gaulli

[10] This Flemish painter worked under Rubens for two years, and painted many portraits of the Stuarts, including one of Queen Henrietta Maria with her dwarf Jeffrey Hudson, and one of Charles I hunting.

ANSWER: Anthony van Dyck

7. Answer the following about a notable crusade, FTPE.

[10] This travesty of a crusade ended in the establishment of the Latin Empire in Constantinople after that city was sacked. The establishment of that empire may have been influenced by a speculated Mameluk-Venetian accord which led the Venetians to push this crusade away from its original target of Egypt.
ANSWER: 4th Crusade
[10] This one-eyed Venetian doge may have been blinded by the Byzantine emperor, thus making the Fourth Crusade a reflection of a vendetta this leader of Venice from 1192 to 1205 had against the Byzantine state.
ANSWER: Enrico Dandolo[10] King Emeric of this Christian country was the protector of the formerly Venetian city of Zara when it was sacked by the Crusaders on the orders of Venice. Stephen I, their first king, made them a Christian nation in the first place.
ANSWER: Hungary (also accept Magyaroszag)

8. A solution can be considered ideal if solute and solvent molecules are approximately the same size and interaction between molecules is relatively uniform. FTPE.

[10] Ideal solutions obey this law which states that the partial vapor pressure of a component in a solution is equal to the mole fraction of that component times the component's standard vapor pressure.

ANSWER: Raoult’s law

[10] Raoult's law can be derived by setting this value for the liquid and vapor components equal. It is the derivative of the internal energy with respect to particle number.

ANSWER: chemical potential

[10] The sum of the product of moles of each component and their chemical potentials can be related to thermodynamic variables via this equation, named for American and French physicists.

ANSWER: Gibbs-Duhem relation

9. This novel’s protagonist is attracted to his daughter-in-law Kikuko and often dreams of his wife Yasuko’s dead older sister. FTPE:

[10] Identify this novel in which Shingo reflects on his aging after hearing the title noise.

10. He once built a hut in Norway so he could live completely alone and revise part two of his Brown Book. He also helped Paul Engelmann build a minimalist square house for his sister, utilizing what he calls "naked light bulbs." FTPE.

[10] Name this philosopher whose works posthumously edited by Elizabeth Anscombe include Culture and Value, Zettel, and one about language games.

ANSWER: Ludwig Wittgenstein

[10] This earlier Wittgenstein work suggests that philosophical problems are linguistic ones, and begins with the proposition "the world is all that is the case."

[10] Wittgenstein disagreed with Karl Popper's argument that it is impossible to doubt one's own existence in this epistemological book, in which Popper argued that Kipa the Sharpa could go too far up Mount Everest, and afterwards thought he was dead. It proposes three worlds, and is subtitled "an evolutionary approach."

[10] Eric Lindros, John Leclair, and Mikael Renberg formed this line while playing for the Flyers in the mid '90s. Too bad that overrated piece of crap Eric Lindros couldn't actually deliver in the playoffs.
ANSWER: The Legion of Doom

[10] Mike Piazza was apparently known as "Batman" while this player was appropriately known as his counterpart "Robin" when they were both on the New York Mets in the late 1990s. This third baseman is probably best known for playing for the White Sox, however.

ANSWER: Robin Mark Ventura

[10] Indy Car Racer Helio Castroneves is sometimes referred to by this nickname for his tendency to scale fences after winning races. Unlike his nickname, he did not recently have the memory of his marriage to Mary Jane Watson erased by Mephisto.

ANSWER: Spiderman

12. Answer these questions about the War of Austrian Succession FTPE,

[10] The last British monarch to appear on the field of battle, at Dettingen, was this Hanoverian, whose reign also saw the Battle of Culloden Moor which ended the '45 Rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Answer: George II

[10] This Western Hemisphere conflict saw the Battle of Bushy Run and the participation of noted debtor turned penal colony founder James Oglethorpe.

Answer: The War of Jenkins' Ear

[10] With the Silesian Campaign underway, it would be Fredrick’s first pitched battle and would result in a Prussian overall victory even after an initial Austrian routing of cavalry lines.

Answer: Battle of Mollwitz

13. Synthesized in the MEP pathway, it is created from violaxanthin via oxidation of xanthoxin, and regulates closure of the stomata. FTPE.

[10] Name this plant hormone originally called dormin, which inhibits growth and the maintains dormancy of buds.

ANSWER: abscisic acid

[10] Abscisic acid's role in preventing leaf abscission is countered by the stimulation of ethylene production by this other plant hormone. The most common member of this family is indole-3-acetic acid, which increases the rate of cell division within the cambium.

ANSWER: auxin

[10] Involved in fruit ripening, these other plant hormones participate in defense against fungi. The octadecanoic pathway is used to synthesize these cyclopentanone derivatives from linolenic acid.

ANSWER: jasmonates or jasmonicacids

14. Identify these Canterbury tales FTPE:

[10] This first tale describes Arcite and Palamon, who are close friends until they fall in love with the same woman, Emily, and battle over her.

ANSWER: The Knight’s Tale

[10] This rebuttal to the Miller’s Tale focuses on Symkin, a thieving miller whose wife and daughter are raped by two students.

ANSWER: The Reeve’s Tale

[10] In this tale, Almachius orders St. Cecilia to be boiled alive and attempts to decapitate her three times, but she manages to survive for three days.

ANSWER: The Second Nun’s Tale

15. Name these apocryphal books of the bible. FTPE.

[10] This list of 114 "secret sayings" of Jesus share many situations with the synoptic gospels. The apostle credited with this gnostic gospel is often called Didymus.

ANSWER: Gospel of Thomas

[10] The title character of this work has his son marry Sarah even though her seven previous husbands were killed by the demon Asmodeus on their wedding night. Later, that character's son cures his blindness using the gallbladder of a fish.

ANSWER: Book of Tobit

[10] The prayer named for this king was included in the Gutenberg bible. He was the successor to Hezekiah and notorious for his worship of idols, though he repented, and was restored to his throne after being taken as a prisoner to Babylon.

ANSWER: Prayer of Manasseh

16. He changed the spelling of his opera Moses und Aron so it would not contain 13 letters. FTPE:

[10] Name this Austrian composer of Pierrot Lunaire and Gurrelieder, known for his use of twelve-tone rows.

ANSWER: Arnold Schoenberg

[10] Based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, this early Schoenberg work is a string sextet depicting the meeting of two lovers in a forest. The woman reveals that she is pregnant by another man, but the man accepts and forgives her.

ANSWER: Verklarte Nacht or Transfigured Night

[10] Schoenberg composed this one-act opera to be completed athematic: once a musical idea is stated, it never reappears. Often performed with Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle, this opera is actually a sung monologue for soprano solo and orchestra, meant to describe the action of a single second.

ANSWER: Erwartung or Expectation

17. Identify the following about some American a certain faction in American politics, FTPE.

[10] Led by men like Edmund Ruffin and William Lowndes Yancey, these extremely pro-slavery southerners ended up forming much of the government of the Confederacy.
ANSWER: Fire-Eaters[10] Yancey is famous for advancing this platform, named for his home state. It called for the protection, rather than prevention, of slavery in the territories gained from the Mexican War. Oh yeah, Rosa Parks also did her bus thing in this state.
ANSWER: Alabama Platform
[10] Another Fire Eater, Robert Rhett, hailed from this state which saw fighting in the Civil War at sites like Boykin's Mill, where Edward L. Stevens became the last Union officer killed in the war. It also was the site of a successful Confederate effort to repel Union forces at the Battle of James Island.
ANSWER: South Carolina

18. Identify some things about soil, FTPE.

[10] This type of soil, commonly called garden soil, provides a 40-40-20 balance in percentages between the sand, silt and clay components of the soil, respectively. The ratio allows for the soil to aerate and hold water well.
ANSWER: Loam[10] Good soil is often produced by legumes, which are able to fix this element from the inert state from which it exists in the atmosphere. It's then used to form compounds like ammonia.
ANSWER: Nitrogen
[10] Podsol soil, which contains a bleached upper horizon with low concentrations of iron and aluminum oxides, tends to coincide with this biome. This is because acid in a portion of the tree drains those compounds from the soil.
ANSWER: Boreal Forest (prompt on "taiga", that can refer to a region without trees and thus without podsol)

19. Answer these questions concerning the Battle of the Somme. FTPE,

[10] The Battle of the Somme was originally an effort to draw German forces away from this French led engagement. Marshal Petain became famous for his efforts in this battle.

ANSWER: The Battle of Verdun

[10] The man who replaced General John French as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, he would lead the British portion of the Somme offensive.

ANSWER: Douglas Haig

[10] This battle would mark the start of the second phase of the Battle of the Somme as the allied forces would attempt to capture the German second defensive position which ran along the crest of the ridge from Pozières.

ANSWER: Battle of Bazentin Ridge

20. FTPE, name these Russian poets.

[10] He wrote about a man obsessed with a certain combination of cards in TheQueen of Spades and about a statue of Peter the Great that comes alive in The Bronze Horseman. His other works include Ruslan and Ludmilla and his verse novel Eugene Onegin.

ANSWER: Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin

[10] He dedicated his poetry collection Listopad to Maxim Gorky, but is better known for his short stories, many of which are collected in The Dark Avenues.

ANSWER: Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin

[10] This Acmeist who translated Hugo, Tagore, and Leopardi couldn’t publish Requiem until the 1960s because of it mourned the victims of Stalin.